


Audrey's Fabulous Adventure

by wingwebbing



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Confrontations!, Consequences!, Descendants 3 Spoilers, Evil Audrey (Disney: Descendants), Evil Schemes, Multi, Post-Descendants 3, descendants 3, magic!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-10 01:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingwebbing/pseuds/wingwebbing
Summary: What happened next was a bit of a blur to Audrey. Everyone seemed all too eager to accept that she’d gone back to being “good” Audrey, that everything she did was just the influence of Maleficent’s staff. But Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had taught her better than that. She knew what she was getting into when she picked up the staff. Everyone seemed to forget that she brought the fire poker to the museum out of her own free will. But she let them believe otherwise. She giggled, feigned embarrassment, made so many apologies. Auradon bought it all and moved on.The ending of D3 (and beyond), rewritten from Audrey's POV! If Sharpay can get a spin-off, why can't the Queen of Mean?





	1. Everything Works Out

When Audrey saw Hades standing over her, she thought, quite reasonably, that she was dead. Her brain didn’t even register the rest of her surroundings— the soft bed beneath her, the Auradon guards by the door, her grandmother worriedly clutching her own limp hand. All she could see was this dirty face, strangely familiar, grimacing under a shock of electric blue fire. Her mind raced as she tried to remember how she could have possibly died. She’d always played it so safe. While the VKs were making Auradon Prep a battlefield, she’d fled to her family’s cabin. And she’d stayed there until… Until she came back. And King Ben, _her_ Ben, had gotten engaged. She remembered now. Audrey groaned and closed her eyes again.

“Did it work? Is she back? Is she okay?” Ben’s voice cut through the ringing in her ears.

“Of course it worked. One soul, freshly returned, totally forgiven. She is one of yours, after all. If it was one of us, well,” Audrey heard something metal click into place. “Lock them up and throw away the key, right?”

“That’s enough, dad.” Audrey bristled at Mal’s voice. _Dad?_ She heard footsteps and waited a minute before sitting up. She felt her hand being squeezed.

“Audrey… Audrey, what were you thinking…”

Audrey forced herself to look up at her grandmother’s face. “I don’t know… I’m sorry, I messed up,” she lied. She’d had the Queen’s crown. She’d almost had the throne to go with it. If she’d only been able to control Maleficent’s magic a little better…

“I’m sorry, Audrey.” Audrey took in her surroundings for the first time. Mal and Ben had re-entered the room, and were looking down at her in concern. It still hurt her to notice they were holding hands. “I took Ben from you, and I never really thought about how that’d make you feel.” Well, at least Mal was lying too. She’d gotten the hang of Auradon’s expectations, worked on her fake apologies.

Audrey looked up at Ben. She’d learned some VK tricks, herself. She tried to figure out the spell that made Ben do whatever Mal wanted, but she’d gone too far, turned him into a mindless beast. Not that she needed a spell to tell Ben what to do. He’d always been impressionable. She’d always assumed they’d be together forever if only because he really _couldn’t_ function without her. She made life so easy for him. Until Mal came and replaced her. Her grandmother’s words rang through her head. _Years of plans, wasted._

She really did care about Ben, even if he was the means to an end. It was kind of charming, how clueless he was. She could have just _taken_ the throne from him when everyone was asleep, but she still wanted them to be together. That was her mistake, she decided. She should have known he would mess things up and recruit _more_ VKs to stop her. She resisted the urge to smirk. She’d been watching when that dolt Jane de-spelled him, and she honestly liked the half-beast look. Looking at him now, it seemed that the spell fully evaporated when she was defeated. _A pity,_ she thought to herself. _If Mal has any sense, she’ll spell him back._

Her grandmother’s voice brought her back to reality. “I suppose… I’m sorry too, Audrey. I pushed you too hard.” It was all Audrey could do not to burst out laughing. (That was something she immediately missed about being “evil”— the ability to laugh freely whenever she wanted. If she reverted back to Innocent Princess Audrey, it would be all polite giggles at garden parties and these insufferable fake apologies.) She wondered if Ben and Mal knew about her grandmother’s plans, knew how very _not_ sorry she was, except that maybe she should have pushed her granddaughter farther.

“I’m just glad to be back!” Audrey plastered on a shy smile. “That was some final attack, Mal.” _She’s dangerous! _Audrey wanted to shout. _She’s going to destroy Auradon. You were all better off asleep._

What happened next was a bit of a blur to Audrey. Everyone seemed all too eager to accept that she’d gone back to being “good” Audrey, that everything she did was just the influence of Maleficent’s staff. But Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had taught her better than that. She knew what she was getting into when she picked up the staff. Everyone seemed to forget that she brought the fire poker to the museum out of her own free will. But she let them believe otherwise. She giggled, feigned embarrassment, made so many apologies. Auradon bought it all and moved on.

She had a harder time fake apologizing to Chad.

He’d caught her on the lawn outside the Auradon Prep dorms. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going— she was too busy watching the royal guards that the King didn’t think she’d noticed were assigned to her— and ran right into the Prince.

“Hey! Audrey. I’ve been looking all over for you.” _And I’ve been avoiding you._ It was hard to believe she’d ever thought he was a suitable replacement boyfriend after Ben. Chad had more of an imagination, sure, but he was a coward. She remembered how disappointing he’d been during her short reign. He refused to help her at all. It was so clear he’d only joined her to save his own skin. A good metaphor for their relationship, really. He jumped at the chance to date the girl who was almost Queen. And once she got the crown, he couldn’t handle it. Throwing him in that cupboard was one of the best decisions she’d made.

“Chad, I’m so sorry about everything that happened. I wasn’t myself,” she heard herself say. “I hope you can forgive me.”

“Hey, uh,” Chad looked nervous. “I know that. You would never do any of that… normally.” He didn’t look so sure. Audrey almost snorted. _Why is he suddenly the smartest person in Auradon?_ Of course she would do it all again. Only she would do it right next time. And her plans _wouldn’t _include this airhead prince. Why was he acting so… traumatized, anyway? She’d barely included him in her schemes. He nearly passed out after seeing one person turn to stone, _and_ she’d let him stay awake, even after that. She was too easy on him.

“Anyways… Are you… going to King Ben’s engagement party? Did you want to go together?” Chad looked afraid of her answer.

“Ben and _Mal’s_ engagement party? Are you kidding?” Audrey rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to celebrate that villain stealing my life.” She couldn’t help letting a little venom slip into her voice.

Chad moved his mouth soundlessly for a moment. “But Audrey,” he said gently, as if trying not to spook a bear. “think about— Look. You’re trying to make them forget anything ever happened, right? You have to show them there’s no hard feelings. You have to act like you’re all on the same team. Trust me.” She was surprised by his sudden insight.

“What do you care if they accept me? You never liked the VKs, either.” Audrey studied Chad's face. Something was different about him. He was always squirrelly, but never _this_ nervous. And he'd always project fake confidence around Audrey.

Chad eyed the royal guards—Audrey didn't realize he'd noticed them, too—and leaned in closer. “They have the power now, Audrey. Just think about it, okay?” Audrey didn't have time to respond before he was gone, practically sprinting to another part of campus.

_Go to my ex's engagement party with my other ex… Wait. _Chad knew they were still broken up, right? They'd been pretty off and on again before she stole the Queen's Crown, but she thought it was pretty clear when she locked him up that she was done with all that. Their relationship was all for status, and she’d flushed her reputation down the enchanted toilet.


	2. Flesh and Blood

She didn't know for sure if she was actually going to do it until the morning of. She dressed herself in one of her new pink dresses, the one the fairies helped her pick out, and hesitated before leaving her family’s castle.

“Aurora?” Her grandmother's voice called from the grand staircase behind her. “What are you doing—Oh. Audrey, I thought you were your mother.”

Audrey bit the inside of her cheek. Of course she picked this dress intentionally. Its powder-pink fabric and flowing pleats screamed royalty, and no one could look at it without thinking of her beloved mother. She'd need all the sympathy she could get if she was going to get the kingdom to trust her the way they did before Mal showed up. Audrey just didn't count on her grandmother being home, or reminding her how much she lived in her mother's shadow.

“Hi, grandma.” Audrey made herself turn around and face Queen Leah. “How do I look?”

“Must you keep your hair dyed like that, Audrey? You look like one of those island children. The last thing you need right now is to remind everyone of your awful behavior with the staff—“

“The fairies thought my hair looked nice.” Audrey was dreading this conversation. She knew her grandma couldn’t keep her feelings bottled up for long, and that apology in front of Ben and Mal was just for show.

“The _fairies_ still refuse to join the rest of the kingdom and give up their magic. You know Mal’s mother was one of them once, right?” Leah pursed her lips. “The Dark _Fairy._ Follow the advice of fairies and you’ll end up alone and apart from the world, Audrey. You’ll do well to remember that.”

Audrey froze. She’d heard this lecture before, very recently. When she’d first seized Maleficent’s staff, she paid her grandmother a visit to flaunt her new powers.

“Who can keep a prince in her sleep now, grandma?” Audrey had guiltily liked how it felt to see her grandma jump when she snuck up behind her in a puff of smoke.

“Audrey?” She’d never seen the Queen so confused. “What are you wearing?”

“Do you like it?” Audrey twirled, using her staff as a baton. “I made it myself.”

“_Audrey_. Get away from that!” Leah had noticed the glowing green gem. “Maleficent, show yourself! Let my granddaughter go!” She looked around frantically.

“Grand-maa,” Audrey could still hear herself saying, playfully dancing forward. “Don’t worry, that lizard is still locked up where she belongs. _Look,_ grandma, I’ve got the Queen’s Crown! And with this scepter, Auradon _has_ to accept me as their Queen! It’s everything we ever wanted! And I don’t even need Ben.” She’d left out how much she still wanted Ben to be part of her life. _He’ll come back to me_, she’d told herself. _After I take control._

“Not like this, Audrey.” Leah didn’t look scared anymore— she looked angry. “You _will_ drop that scepter right now. Has anyone seen you with it? No granddaughter of mine is going to go around using _magic._” She’d said the word with such disgust. Audrey had taken it as if she’d been physically struck.

“But grandma, this is my _chance_.” She’d taken a step closer, not even realizing she was tilting the magic gem towards her grandma. “I can have everything you wanted for me— everything _they took_ from me.”

“I never wanted you to become some— some _witch._ If you’d just be patient, like your mother—“

“Well, I guess I’m not my mother!” Green lightning had crackled around her. “I can’t just sleep through life while people like _Mal_ are out there living _my happy ending!” _Her freshly purpled hair was practically standing on end. Leah had taken no notice and stared straight into her granddaughter’s eyes.

“Don’t you joke about that. Do you know how hard it was, _for me—“_

“You sent your only daughter away! Don’t play the victim here! If you’d just invited Maleficent to the party in the first place, maybe my mom could have had a normal life!”

“Don’t point the finger at me, Audrey. I had no choice in the matter—it was the fairies’ feud that started all this. They insisted we leave Maleficent out, and honestly, how could we say no? Aurora needed the fairies’ gifts, child. And Maleficent was always a bad egg.”

“You didn’t have to listen! You’re the Queen!”

“You know, for all your training, you don’t know the first thing about being a queen. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t hold onto King Ben.” Before Audrey could open her mouth, Leah added, “Well, why don’t I teach you the most important thing about being a Queen, if you’re going to go through with this.” Leah eyed Maleficent’s emerald. “Follow the advice of fairies and you’ll end up alone. Cut off from the world. Is that what you want?”

Audrey was outraged. How dare _Sleeping Beauty’s_ mother lecture her on isolation? At least the fairies had never abandoned her, or her mother. They’d always opposed the way Queen Leah had raised Audrey, all rules and expectations. At that moment, she’d remembered Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather’s lessons about magic. They’d always described it with this intense nostalgia, a force that drew off of intense emotions. And Audrey had never been so angry in her life. She’d never allowed herself to be, anyway. Now it was like all that hurt was flowing through her, into the staff.

She didn’t know where exactly the spell had sent her grandma. All she knew was she wanted the matriarch to feel as alone and helpless as she’d felt, as abandoned as her mother must have felt—she knew it must have sent her far away. When the whole thing was over and Queen Leah was back in Auradon, Audrey had tried to avoid her grandmother as much as possible. Now, standing in the grand foyer of her home, she knew she couldn’t avoid the topic any longer.

“I’m afraid I’m not sure what you’re going on about, grandma.” Audrey tried to inject as much candy-coated fluff into her voice as possible. “Forgive me, everything’s been a little hazy since the incident. I’ve been forgetting things, silly me.” It was as bold a lie as she’d ever told, claiming to forget the terrible spells she’d unleashed on Auradon. But it seemed to get her out of most… unpleasant confrontations. Easy to forgive someone when they don’t remember what they’ve done.

“Come now, Audrey, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You haven’t forgotten one minute of our conversation, of what you did to me, have you? That may work on the peasantry, but certainly not your own flesh and blood.”

“If I hurt you when I was… affected, I’m certainly sorry, grandmother.” Audrey was really laying it on thick, now. “But I’m late for the engagement party. Don’t want to anger the future Queen of Auradon, do we?” Audrey didn’t specify _which_ future Queen of Auradon she meant. “Have a lovely evening, grandmother!” She didn’t even wait for a reply before slipping out the castle doors. She knew it wasn’t over, but maybe she could postpone whatever consequences her family had in store. At least until after she’d seized back the crown.


End file.
